Johnny Joo gives the world a glimpse of places long forgotten through the lens of his camera. He is a photographer by trade but an urban explorer at heart. The scenes he shares are covered in weeds, moss and cobwebs. They serve as an eerie reminder that nothing lasts forever.

Joo cautions that viewers should appreciate the subjects of his incredible photos but keep them in mind also as examples of humanity’s wastefulness and the impact society has on nature.”It’s really important to think about just how much we leave behind,” the 25-year-old Mentor native said. “I want to try and make a change in the way people think.”

He’s photographed abandoned malls, stadiums, schools, hospitals and houses. His pictures from inside Mike Tyson’s deserted Ohio mansion and the decaying Geuga Lake Amusement have gone viral on the Internet.

Photo Analysis

This photograph is a true representation of the past. It represents a discovery of forgotten things which brings a realization that this place was someones past; the history of lives we never even knew. There is great use of leading lines and depth of field within this photograph. The layered chairs, which represent a sense of structure which once used to stand, helps to draw the audience to the daylight in the distant windows. I believe this small amount of natural light represents a feeling of hope that is left about the building. The carefully positioned chairs create a strong contrast and juxtaposition to the rest of the building which is completely wrecked and derelict. This use of contrast may be a reference to the atmosphere which once was present to how it appears to be now. Personally I see these this photo as a missed opportunity to help those who don’t have a place to call home such as the homeless.

Beomsik Won takes photographs of urban buildings from different times and spaces, breaks them down into segments using digital techniques, and constructs collages to create familiar-looking, yet imaginary buildings. To make these “Archisculptures” as it is called, he carefully combines the segments taking into consideration the architectural size, space, and formative elements; he then places them against simple backgrounds, and lastly adds people or birds for the viewers to guess the size of the building. Although these strange buildings are products of the artist’s imagination, they show various styles of architectures throughout history.

My response to Beomsik Won.

http://www.tyhereading.com/

Tyhe Reading is a professional photographer and graphic designer located in Melbourne, Victoria. With a focus on sustainability, Tyhe captures his subjects in a way that is truly representative of the experience.  He first started taking images at aged 14 but really found his passion for the subject and deiced to peruse it as a full-time career when he was 17. His photography works stems from his childhood of growing up on the Coast, admiring the natural environment in ways that had to be captured with a camera. This crosses over into his design work as he tries to incorporate his love for the natural environment and geometric structures into his designs.

Image analysis

This image was taken during golden hour using natural lighting to capture the image. You can tell this because the light that is being reflected of the sea and the mist in the background of the image had a golden tint to it which would only happen during golden hour which is ethier sunset or sunrise. The shutter speed would have been around 1/40 1/100 to make sure that the waves are in focus and sharp The main focus of the image is the triangle in the centre which has then been split up into furthering different parts of the image to create a geometric effect. There isn’t much texture in this image as the waves in the foreground ae very smooth and sleek, however a bit of texture can bee seen in the background of the image with the rocks but mainly only the silhouette can be seen. Overall the image is very light the only dark tones in the the high raise of the wave and the outline of the rocks in the background

David Hockney

David Hockney (born 1937) is an English painter, print maker and photographer. He was an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960’s and is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century.  Hockney has made prints, portraits of friends, and stage designs for the Royal Court Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Hockney was born with synaesthesia, he sees synesthetic colours in response to musical stimuli. In the early 1980’s, Hockney began to produce photo collages that he called ‘joiners’, in these Hockney took multiple photographs and arrange a patchwork to create a composition.

My Favourite Photograph

In this joiner photograph it appears that Hockney used natural daylight to capture it. This is because the colours are very vibrant and there is a natural level of contrast within the photograph. In the photographs that make up this collage, I think that a deep depth of field will have been used to ensure that the whole of the photograph is in focus. A shutter speed of 1/40 – 1/100 will have been used along with an ISO of 100 or 200 for this as the photographs making up the collage are sharp and have the correct amount of exposure.

There are lots of vibrant colours in this collage which catches the viewers eye, this creates a wider tonal range and more contrast between colours in the photograph. The majority of the collage is light, the only dark tones are in the trees and shadows. There is a texture in the ground in the collage which allows the viewer to see the photograph as more realistic and relate to it more. It is quite a 3D image as there are obviously subjects in the foreground and subjects in the background which get darker as they get further back.

This photograph is one of Hockey’s joiner photographs in which he would use polaroid prints and 35 mm commercially processed colour prints of a single subject to create a collage. The result of this joiner work has an affinity with Cubism, which is one of Hockney’s major aims – discussing the way human vision works.

The photos I took on this shoot are interesting because they show the deterioration of the urban area. A lot of the photos are more close up and abstract but I think these help to paint a picture of the urban landscape as a whole through detailed photos. I found when I was walking around and exploring an area i though I was familiar with I found interesting things which I would not have noticed if I hadn’t come there to specifically takes photos.

I selected and edited my favorite images from this shoot which I thought showed the area I walked around the best. They display the idea of disposable goods and and how the weather and environment has effected urban areas.